Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Silence ❯ Chapter 4

Chapter four

'If that Kinneas thinks he can play games with me, he's got another thing coming.' Seifer thought to himself. He was fuming from the morning run in with Irvine. Seeing him sitting with Zell having breakfast, made all his suspicions from before return. 'The party, the diner, now breakfast together and god knows what else.' He continued mentally analyzing the evidence that Irvine might be trying to take Zell away from him.

After leaving the cafeteria Zell had gone to the training center for a work out. After making sure that his little blonde would be alone Seifer made his way to the boys dorms. On a hunt for the cowboy to have a little talk with him.

"When I find that little prick, I'll make him wish he'd never heard the name Seifer Almasy."

'Trying to take what's mine isn't something I'll let pass easily.' He continued making his way towards Squall's room, knowing that's where Irvine was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Irvine) "Sometimes that Leonhart can be a very insightful person. Even early in the morning." But if I am just being paranoid about the situation, then why do I still feel uneasy? Sighing on my way from Squall's room, I head down the hall and just as I'm about to turn the corner someone grabs me by the collar of my coat, pulls me around the corner and slams me against the wall. Who else could it have been but Billy goat gruff himself- Seifer. He was practically strangling me with one hand, eyes of rage staring right into mine.

"So you gonna kiss me or what?" I said jokingly, only to get the grip on my neck tightened.

"In your dreams," He said back. "Or maybe not, maybe its my little chicken you've been dreaming about." He really gritted his teeth on the 'dreaming' part.

"Well ya know, I don't really eat chicken." I joked again.

"Not funny." He said pulling my head from the wall then slamming it back again. I just tensed through the slight pain. I'll never give this jackass the upper hand. No matter how much that hurt.

"Listen heehaw, stay away from Zell and away from me and we won't have any problems in the future." Seifer said putting on a fake smile. Then he started loosening the grip around my neck. I took advantage of it and pulled his hands away completely.

"Staying away from you won't be a problem, but Zell's a different story." I said. We both crossed are arms about to engage in a glaring contest.

"Well you're gonna have to try, because wherever I am, he'll be there too. Right beside me or in front of me. Always with me." He said tauntingly leaning closer to my face. I moved in closer myself not about to back down if he wanted a fight.

"Well I'm sure Zell will say otherwise to that. He is one of my best friends ya know and we're gonna hang out whether you like it or not!"

"Zell, doesn't need friends any more. He's got me." Seifer stepped back from me dropping his arms. He started walking backwards, slowly, like he was about to turn and leave any second. That or lunge at me unexpectedly. Hyne let it be the first one.

"He'll always have me too." He went on cockily. "For everything he needs, whatever he wants. Its give and take in our relationship." Finally he turned around and started walking away from me but kept talking. "And boy can he take it, aall of it." He laughed the rest of the way down the hall.

"Jerk." I mumbled.

I fixed my collar and rubbed my neck trying to sooth the throbbing in it. "Having a crush sure is painful." I headed for my own room instead of where I originally planned to go and that was to find Zell. "Is it really worth all this trouble?..... Sure as shit is and now its personal." I can't prove it yet but I know Seifer's doing something to Zell and I'll be there to protcet him, when I find out what it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the training center. Selphie had joined Zell and they fought off monsters together in a competition to see who'd kill the most.

"That's twenty for me." Selphie said raising her nun chuck in the air. She and Zell made their way to a nearby log to sit down and rest.

"Yeah, well I beat thirty so ha!" The martial artist said stretching his limbs.

"No way!" Selphie protested looking at him in disbelief.

"No lie." Zell said grinning wickedly. "I counted the monsters I fought before you showed up." He admitted and laughed seeing the face Selphie gave him. After a second though Selphie lightly slapped Zell's arm and laughed with him.

Not too far away, walking the green carpeted entrance hall of the training center, was Seifer. He heard the distant laughter and paused just at the door to listen.

"I'm gonna go work out for awhile." Seifer quietly mumbled to himself mocking Zell's words from before. "Doesn't sound like fighting to me." He continued listening as the laughter died down and the two voices began talking.

"So what happened with you and Seifer last night, ya know why'd you leave Xu's party so soon?" The little brunette asked. Zell tensed a little thinking back to why they'd left. Sure he understood how Seifer felt but he really did want to stay. If not for the dancing, he could have at least had a piece of cake.

At the door of the training center, Seifer eagerly waited to hear Zell's reply.

"Well it got kind of dull and Seifer just wanted to go. He wasn't feeling all that great to begin with." The martial artist lied. It wasn't really a lie though..... right?

"Too bad, I could have watched you and Irvine dance all night." Selphie said making Zell blush a little. He would never admit it out loud but that Irvine was a pretty good dancer and he'd been thinking about their close encounter since he'd left the party.

Just at the mention of that cowboys name Seifer's hands went into fist.

"Yeah it was pretty wild." Zell said feeling himself smiling at the remembrance of their short lived dance.

"Good thing Seifer stopped you guys, who knows how far that could have gone." Selphie joked nudging Zell in the ribs with her elbow. The two of them laughed a bit.

"If I'd had the time I would of squeezed right between the two of ya and had myself a little bump and grind- literally." Selphie added making them laugh a little more. "Yeah that's always been my dream to be planted between two hot guys." Selphie said after ceasing her laughter. "Two or one." She said flirtatiously to Zell poking a finger at his stomach. .

By then Seifer had gone into full rage inside, looking around the door watching the two of them, listening to their little conversation.

'He probably had this all set up. Making me think he'd be training alone just so he could wait for that little brown mouse to show up. I don't like liars.'

Seifer forced himself not to seem enraged as he walked in to the greenery of the training center making his way toward the two. He didn't appreciate how close they were sitting or the fact that they were laughing and whispering just now.

"Ehem." He cleared his throat loud enough to get their attention.

"Hey Seifer! We were just talking about you." Selphie piped up patting the spot on the log beside her for him to sit. Seifer just narrowed his eyes at her then looked to Zell.

"I just bet you were." He said.

The two blondes held eye contact silently for minutes while Selphie yammered on about what she and Zell talked about. Luckily for her, Seifer was already to angry to hear any of what she was saying.

"I thought you were training or working out." He said to Zell still holding the boys gaze.

"I- I was, well at first." Zell stammered out. "Then uh... Selphie here showed up and we fought together. Now we're taking a break." He continued with his explanation.

'Yeah a break or rest from your little rendezvous.' Seifer angrily thought. Seifer didn't really believe that Zell and Selphie might have been messing around instead of fighting but at the moment he wasn't sure what to believe.

Zell was mentally praying that Seifer hadn't heard any of what he and Selphie talked about. He knew how jealous the gun bladist could be and he didn't want to make things worse. Selphie just stared quietly at the two wondering why they were so serious.

"So hey Seifer, you feeling any better?" She asked getting the scarred blondes attention.

It took him a minute to realize that she was referring to what Zell had told her about why they left Xu's party.

"No. I'm suddenly starting to feel nauseated." He replied. Looking back to Zell he said. "I'm going out for awhile. I'll be back whenever." He turned and left the two mumbling- "Not that you'd care." As he went.

"Huh, what's with him?" Selphie asked Zell who had been strangely quiet the whole time staring down at his lap.

"Beats me." He answered quietly.

'I wonder if I should go after him or just let him be.' He asked himself mentally. Sighing, he decided it'd probably be best if he went after Seifer. Although both options would probably end in a bad result. Standing, he told Selphie he was going.

"Yeah sure, see ya." She said waving with her weapon. He smiled at her before trotting off. When he got out into the hallway he was surprised to see that Seifer hadn't gone far. In fact if Zell didn't know any better he'd swear he'd been waiting for him.

"Hey glad I caught up to you." Zell said smiling to hopefully ward off Seifer's anger. He just got more nervous when Seifer didn't say or do anything. Instead the gun blader looked at the people wandering the halls. Knowing if he raised his voice to Zell they'd stop and listen. So instead he just put his hands on the smaller boys shoulders and leaned in to Zell's face saying..

"Don't lie to me." Then he backed off squeezing his shoulders before letting them go.

"What do you mean? I never lie-"

Before Zell could finish his sentence Seifer cut him off. "I'm going out okay." He walked away from Zell without another word.

'What does he mean?' Zell asked himself. "Did he... hear us?" Instead of standing around feeling confused, Zell decided to go after him again and find out what his problem was or to at least make sure things were alright.

Zell figured if Seifer was going out he'd be in the parking garage, unless he'd decided to walk. Luckily his first suspicion was right. He found Seifer in the parking garage leaning against his car, staring blankly as he smoked. Zell walked casually towards him, slowly wetting his nervously dry mouth with his tongue.

He wasn't sure if Seifer noticed his entering or not, so he spoke up. "You wanna talk or something?" He tried to sound calm but could feel himself shaking nervously inside. Seifer slowly turned his head in Zell's direction, as if he'd just noticed his presence but didn't hear a word the boy said.

"You know, if you want to be with Kinneas go ahead." Seifer said quietly and withdrawn. "I don't deserve you anyway."

"Why would I want to be with Irvine?" Zell asked. He moved closer to the taller man, gazing hard at his face. He was looking for any signs of what might be going on in Seifer's head. The scarred face remained emotionless.

"Why not be with him? You two seem to get along great and from what I hear you make a good looking pair."

'He must have heard what me and Selphie were talking about.' Zell registered mentally. "Come on Seifer, I told you before Irvine and I are just friends. When I was talking to Selphie I only said that stuff for her sake. You know how she is." Zell said defending himself.

Seifer tossed the remaining butt of the cigarette to the cement and stomped on it. Almost in a way that he was stomping on Zell's lie. Then he turned his body completely in Zell's direction staring down at him.

"I'm starting to find it harder and harder to believe that you two are, just friends." He said the last two words leaning very close to Zell's face. "And I'm not jealous either. I'm annoyed." He continued straightening back up. "I mean why do you feel the need to keep lying to me? If you like the guy just say so."

"But I don't like him. Not that way, not like I love you. He's just a good friend." Zell replied keeping his voice firm. "Technically I didn't lie to you about training alone. Its not my fault Selphie showed up. I'm not just gonna tell her to leave." He went on getting more confident with every word. Why shouldn't he be brave? He was telling the truth after all and if Seifer loved him at all he'd believe his partner.

"What did you think we'd planned meeting up with each other?" The tattooed boy asked not knowing he was pushing his limits. Seifer glared at him now and grabbed Zell by the neck. His face registering pissed and Zell was wishing he hadn't been so brave after all.

"You think I'm paranoid now, don't you? Are you secretly laughing at me behind my back, because I can't stand the thought of you being with anyone but me?" Zell was gasping for air and trying to pry Seifer's hands from his neck, but he failed.

"What's wrong with being normal huh? Any sane person would be just as suspicious with their lover if they acted like you." Seifer let Zell's neck go and grabbed the boy by the arm before he cod try to leave. "Always so nice and friendly with everyone. Then you go and lie about what you're doing," He said squeezing Zell's arm more. Pulling the martial artist closer to him Seifer finished, "and you expect me to be o.k. with everything?!"

The next thing Zell knew he was hurled forwards and hit the car in front of him. "Ugh." Not being able to stop the impact he fell, his face coming in contact with the side view mirror. "Ow!" Zell's hand immediately went up to his face, where a bruise had formed from the mirror. Pulling his hand from his cheek he saw a small amount of blood left on his fingers.

Seifer walked slowly over to the fallen boy, shocked at what had just happened himself. Zell looked away from him, squeezing his eyes to keep the tears from forming. Seifer knelt down beside him and hesitantly turned Zell's face towards him. Zell tensed at the touch and braced himself for whatever else might happen.

".....I'm sorry," Seifer whispered, almost low enough to not be heard. A little surprised, Zell turned to look at him, his expression showing nothing but hurt and fear. Seeing that made Seifer put his arms around the injured body. "It was an accident," He went on, hugging Zell closer. "I didn't mean to... to-"

"Hurl me into a car?" Zell's tiny voice spoke up making Seifer freeze for a moment.

"Yeah. It was an accident." He repeated then pulled away from the hug to look at Zell's bruise.

"Does it hurt?" He asked touching it lightly with his fingers. Zell winced at the slight pain but shook his head.

"I'll be alright." He said with a quivering voice. Then he slowly stood up, Seifer following right behind him.

"No, let me take care of it for you." Seifer said. He wrapped his arms around Zell's shoulders again, keeping the boy as close to him as possible. As much as Zell wanted to protest, he was too afraid too now. Not knowing how Seifer would react to it. So he let himself be lead out of the parking garage and to their room, well Seifer's room. They walked in silence until they were both inside and in the bathroom.

Seifer opened the medicine cabinet getting a cleanser for Zell's bruise. Zell stood in front of him avoiding looking up into the mirror in front of them. Seifer took Zell's face in his hand again and started cleaning up the small amount of dried blood.

"I really am sorry, you know." He talked while fixing Zell up. "I would never hurt you on purpose, you know that don't you?"

Zell wasn't sure if he should answer or not, truthfully he wasn't sure if he believed what Seifer was saying either. Swallowing hard he managed to find his voice and answered anyway. "I know."

"That's good, because its true. I was just angry and.." He finished cleaning the bruise and got a band aid to cover the small cut. Unfortunately it wasn't large enough to hide the blackish blue color his cheek had turned. Seifer frowned at that but figured there wasn't anything he could do about it right now. 'I'll just get the larger ones from the infirmary later.' He mentally noted.

"There, all better." He said lightly kissing Zell's injured cheek. The small blonde finally looked up into the mirror, getting a look at the finished product.

"Thanks." He mumbled. Seifer smiled at the response and hugged Zell against his chest. They stared in the mirror together looking at the image before them.

"You know how much I love you." Seifer began and Zell nodded slightly, even though it wasn't a question. "So much I just can't bare the thought of losing you.... to anyone."

"But you won't lose me." Zell sad surprising his lover. "We talked about this before," He went on still gazing at their reflections.

"I don't want to be with anyone else. I love you. Even though you've been scaring me lately."

"I don't mean to. Honestly these things just happen."

"I understand that but-"

"But what?" Seifer asked starting to feel a little panick that Zell might want to be away from him for awhile.

"But I don't know how to keep you from getting jealous like that. They're my friends ya know. Not just Irvine but Selphie, Squall, Quistis and even Xu."

Seifer sighed heavily and released Zell from his hold. "You're right they are. Maybe they're more your friends than mine and its making me worry." He explained. He turned Zell around so they faced each other. "If you just promise me there's nothing going on with you and Irvine- anybody, then I'll calm down. I swear."

Zell could sense Seifer's sincerity and he knew how much he really did love him, so it was understandable that he would freak out like that.

"There's nothing going on, I swear." He replied and Seifer smiled at him leaning in to kiss him and Zell returned the smile as they walked into the bedroom. Everything once again o.k.